AN ANALYSIS OF POVERTY ALLEVIATION EFFORTS IN RURAL INDIA IMPACT OF MICRO-FINANCE WITH SELF-HELP GROUP-BANK LINKAGE SCHEME

During the 1990s numerous structural adjustment programs have been implemented across the world for eradicating poverty. The government of India has also made innumerable efforts to address poverty, but still, the rate of poverty is still high in comparison to other developing nations. Data also suggest that the rate of savings is also accelerating but this is not distributed equally. The policies of liberalization, globalization and privatization during the 1990s resulted in the growth of the economy of the country during 1999-2000 and 2004-2005. However, it failed to eradicate poverty uniformly in the different regions of the country. To uplift the rural parts of this county, the National Bank of Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) implemented a self-help groups bank linkage program in 1992. This was done to boost microfinancing in rural parts of India through self-help groups.Microfinancing programs have been used by many countries across the world to facilitate the availability of banking facilities to economically weaker people. NABARD implemented this program in 13 states for penetrating financial services to the disadvantaged population. Researchers have noted that microfinancing programs have helped people affiliated with the SHGs in getting credit help. However, it has been found that many women have joined these groups to gain banking help and address gender inequality (Malhotra, 2016). Research scholars have noted that most of the people in these groups have a need for financial assistance for income generation activities, for clearing debt or for social purposes.